Last year a two-disk compilation of the first four Styx albums, Styx, Styx II, The Serpent Is Rising, and Man of Miracles, was released titled The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings, in reference to the label on which they were all released. They could have blown the minds of a few really old-school Styx fans by dusting off a few of those songs for the medley, but unfortunately Equinox was as far back as they dared to venture.
Styx closed the show strongly with two of Shaw's biggest hits, "Fooling Yourself" and "Renegade". "Fooling Yourself" is preceded by an amazing cello intro by two boys in the orchestra, and before launching the song, Shaw introduces Chuck Panozzo who comes out to play bass on the final two songs. Phillips switches over to guitar at this point. Great performance of this Grand Illusion classic, but somebody really needs to tell Gowan to knock off his stupid "I can play the keyboards behind my back" antics - it looks ridiculous. The band had some fun improvising on "Renegade", as Shaw introduced the band members, and then teased the crowd with "we don't want to go... we could stay here and do this all night... get up in the morning and do it again!", before eventually conceding that they had a gig in Long Island the next night. A massive confetti blizzard signaled the end of an amazing show.
The production quality of this DVD was stellar, with the exception of a few annoyances with the two surround mixes. Both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound mixes were provided, and they generally did a remarkable job with such a huge ensemble of musicians. I thought that the orchestra overwhelmed the band at times, and some of the brass was mixed too loud in the rear surround speakers. The lone tuba player, and perhaps the bass trombonist, must have paid off the sound engineer, because they were mixed excessively loud in the rear surrounds, at times, making things sound very unnatural and distracting. The guitars could have been mixed a little louder too, to give the songs a more heavier tone, but with these few exceptions, the audio sounded excellent overall.
The video looked stunning and was helped by a very brightly lit stage. The lighting was configured primarily to provide the best video recording results, and to give the orchestra enough light to perform, so don't be expecting some flashy light show. I would have preferred a more traditional rock concert style light show to supplement the band's performance, but it appeared that the orchestra's needs were given equal credence this night. The camera work was outstanding and the director brilliantly captured all of the best moments of the show.
Article comments
1 - Gator
This is truly a magnificant DVD. I rushed out and bought it as soon as I learned of the Youth Orchestra & Chorus. These youngsters are marvelous. Liza Grossman is doing a wonderful job with these young adults, she is super! STYX made a very wise choice in performing with the orchestra. James Young and Tommy Shaw are very gifted composers, players and vocalists. The new lineup is killer. Amazing musicians and performers. I've been playing for some 30 years and I'm getting up there in age. I love to see the bands I grew up with still rockin' strong. This is not just a nastalgia tour selling on an old name. This is a serious performance that is a must for your collection. As powerful as the performance was, they all appeared to be having a blast, very relaxed, very excited...not "stuffy shirt" or over concentrating. Not to forget the sound engineers...anyone who has actually ever had to mix period knows how tedious it can be. The engineers did an excellent job with over 150 microphones to keep track of. My Bose system played in 5.1 gave me a remarkable mix. Everything was present, nothing overbearing, really fine good clean flat response. Improper sound engineering can break even the best performance. The engineering on this DVD allows the performance to shine. Excellent concert, grab this DVD!
2 - lowell watts
at a time when our school is cutting out the music program, it did my heart good to see that some folks still understand the importance of the arts for our children.